Yoder, Mark
English III 3rd even/odd
14 April, 2017
Literary Elements of “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”
Elements within literature make a story unique and admirable.. In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”, the short story exemplifies several usages of literary elements. The author of the 1930 classic, Katherine Anne Porter, made irony very prevalent throughout the story. For instance, Porter’s masterpiece includes an immense percentage of it being written around an ironic situation. In this essay, I am going to elaborate with you, the reader, examples and the premises as to why the author used literary elements in her work.
The following passage is an excerpt from Katherine Anne Porter’s short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how such choices as figurative language, imagery, and dialogue develop the complex emotions the character is feeling.
In Katherine Anne Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" an old woman's light is slowly fading out and memories from her past are phasing in and out of her head as she lives out her final moments. The times she was "jilted" are pouring out of her memories, releasing themselves and allowing her the peaceful death she so desires. She has good memories: memories of her children, memories of her husband, and memories of her silly father: "Her father had lived to be one hundred and two years old and had drunk a noggin of strong hot toddy on his last birthday. He told the reporters it was his daily habit, and he owed his long life to that" (Porter 2). But it is the bad memories she's letting go of, the memories of her many "jiltings".
“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” is a short story written by Katherine Anne Portier about an elderly woman on her deathbed. Granny Weatherall is a very interesting character and the story describes her last thoughts and memories as she lies there taking her last breaths. Granny Weatherall is perceived as an independent and strong-willed character that has lived a full life. As she lies on her deathbed, she drifts in and out of consciousness and seems to not have a full grasp on reality. As she nears the end of her life, the reader is able to understand her thoughts and feelings, and feels how the elderly woman is struggling with coming to terms with dying. The themes in this
There are three principal sources of interest in narratives: suspense, mystery, and irony. In the narratives “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Ronald Dahl, irony is a primary source of interest. Irony is defined as a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. In both of these cases, the use of irony by the authors greatens the impact the pieces have on their audience. In both “A Rose for Emily” and “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the authors have numerous pieces of irony throughout their respective stories; this use of irony creates a better reading experience for the reader.
The short stories, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Catherine Anne Porter and “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, have many similarities as well as differences. Both stories have a simple plot with a theme that is symbolic of their lives. These stories include great characterization, description of elements in the stories, and the point of view.
The world is a massive place full of endless literature, beginning from ancient scrolls to daily news articles, filled with many secrets, perspectives and surroundings that help connect literature to an individual’s daily life. Some writers use the skills of literary elements to express and discuss an event that has happened to them or what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting.
William Faulkner who is the author of, “A rose for Emily” and Katherine Porter’s author of “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” have many strong similarities among these two stories. These both short stories explain how Miss Emily and Granny Weatherall are both very independent, but extremely stubborn old ladies who are set in their ways. Both of these ladies show resentments about their past and have difficulties overcoming it. One of the similarities these two women have is there is a man who plays an important role in these two women’s life. Another example these two women struggled with having resentment is Emily was betrayed by her father because the way he had raised her.
It is something everyone does, continuously, in everything we do; a running dialogue of thoughts always occupying our minds, perceptible to only us. In everyday life, this common train of thoughts is never scrutinized or examined, but in literature, it is something referred to as stream of consciousness and it is what will be surveyed in this essay. The two stories being observed are Katherine Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”, a short story about an 80-year-old woman’s thoughts and memories as she lives out her last day. The second story is James Joyce’s “Araby”, the fictional story of a young boy in Dublin and his infatuation with a girl in his neighborhood. This essay will examine stream of consciousness vital role in these
“A Rose for Emily,” “A Worn Path,” and “The Lottery” by William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and Shirley Jackson all have similar writing styles in their literature. In these three short stories the authors all use contrasting nature within their literature to predict the outcome and to learn for the upcoming events in the readings. The authors take subliminal phrases and subliminal symbolic text to have the reader become more attached and understand more of what the characters, setting and theme of the story has to offer. Using these three stories the reader of this essay will understand and grasp the symbolic meanings in text of each these short stories.
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat is a collection of nine different stories that tell about the enduring suffering of a select few that suffered under the Dictatorships of François Duvalier (Papa Doc: 1957-1971) and Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc: 1971-1986) (___) The nine chapters of the book bounce back and forth between the past and the present to show the impact that the dictatorships had on these people and how it is still affecting them today as immigrants. The novel mainly focuses on a former dew breaker that resides in a Haitian area of Brooklyn, New York. A dewbreaker was someone that was a torturer during the Duvalier dictatorships, who participated in the
In past years, as well as, in the twenty-first century, African Americans are being oppressed and judged based on the color of their skin. In, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, this is the primary conflict that plagues Jefferson’s as well as Grant’s everyday life. By pleading guilty to a murder that he did not commit, Jefferson has to choose to die just as he is, a hog in the white’s eyes, or die a man. On the other hand, Grant, who is his teacher, is faced with being looked down upon by his community all because of his race and status. He is graced with the challenge of turning Jefferson into a man before his execution date. It is only a matter of time before they both realize that they cannot change the past and they have
In both “Lust”, by Susan Monet and “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” by Kathrine Ann Porter we have stories that deal with matters of a woman’s heart. Though they both see it through different perspectives they are still discussing the matter of the female heart. Though there is a difference in age both characters in these stories show different types of love, as well as loves different effect on a woman given the different circumstances.
Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" depicts the story of a dying woman's life. Throughout her eighty years of life Mrs. Weatherall has had her fair share of disappointments, heartaches, and unfavorable outcomes. This short story is written in a manner that allows the reader to get an outside view looking in; similar to looking at the story through a window as if being acted out in front of you in the theater. The story is eloquently written and leaves the reader with a sense of familiarity towards the family. The populations of readers who have had the pleasure of experiencing this pathetic story have come to relate their own experiences and disappointments towards the story and have empathetic feelings towards the main
All Summer in A Day by Ray Bradbury is about how a little jealousy can turn into rage and reveals that children, along with adults, can be blinded by something so simple.The author of All Summer in A Day believes jealousy and bullying are the key emotions played in this short story. Bradbury claims that the main characters, Margot, is being bullied because she was Earth longer. Whereas, the other students don’t even remember Earth because of how early they all moved to Venus. When Margot arrives, she was four. The other children had arrived two years before. The author describes her as “a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the
Usually, a short story may contain profound thoughts. Writers always convey their ideas or opinions by offering several arguments in their productions. These arguments are essential to advancing the story and defining characters. In "Aunt Mary" written by Joseph Imperiale, we might identify three arguments here.